It's the most cliche saying in rugby league: "Defence wins premierships". Yet an effective defensive system has not been at Parramatta since the days of Brian Smith.
Despite having a dominant forward pack for a considerable period of time, Brad Arthur's Eels never sat in the top 4 regularly when it came to their defence. The defensive system seemed a mix of dominating possession while relying on individual players to solve problems rather than having a system designed to limit attacking opportunities.
At the start of 2025 Ryles' new look Eels were up against it. For the first month they were the worst defensive team in the competition.
Averaged out, Parramatta were conceding 32.5 points per game. Well on track to a wooden spoon.
There are some reasons for that. New coach, new defensive system, the absence of key players all contributed to a side unable to hold itself together.
Yet, as the season has gone the side has looked more cohesive and with that has come an improved defence.
In the last month, the Eels' 4 game rolling average has gone from the worst in the league to the best in the league.
Parramatta is now conceding 12.5 points per game.
You have to go back to 2020 when across the first 4 games of the season they conceded a miserly 7.5 points per game to have a better defensive period. However it should be pointed out that was the first COVID season and across the opening 3 rounds the Eels played the Bulldogs, Titans and Broncos. None of those sides would make the finals with the Dogs and Broncos finish 15th and 16th respectively.
Parramatta managed to replicate a similar defensive effort at the start of 2021, conceding 13.5 points per game across the opening month. Yet in 2021 they still had big off nights, conceding 96 points across 2 games against the Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles.
The trend during the Arthur era was often a strong start to the season before hitting some bumps in mid-year and then tapering off as they hit the finals (if they did make the finals).
So far (in a much smaller sample size) Ryles' Eels seem to be improving as the season has continued. With a halfback like Moses and 2 promising spine members in Iongi and Smith, the points will inevitably flow in attack. Throw in Lomax and Addo-Carr and Parramatta's ability to finish opportunities will steadily improve.
But it's the defence that is keeping them in contests now. The Panthers, 4 time Premiers, had to reach deep into their bag of big match experience to beat a Parramatta side that went toe-to-toe with them, despite being in a period of flux form-wise.
In fact, in the last 6 weeks, Parramatta have been in a position to win each of their games. A marked improvement from the start of the year.
And all of that has been built on defence. Time will tell how good this side becomes, but they are building a solid foundation and it's clear Ryles has the buy-in of the men around him.
Replies
In hindsight I would deliberately start Matterson against a side with big props. Matto showed last week that nothing Penrith had intimidated him. Actually he should be getting pretty close to match fit and he will toughen our forwards in terms of size.
Exciting times watching this team grow each week, reminds me of panthers in 2019 that built into 2020 and we all know what happend from there.
Defence sets up a scenario of who blinks first loses
A game of attrition is always great to watch. How do you keep that discipline? Mental focus on one's in the system. Nail biting games to see who crumbles first. Love that aspect of any game in any sport
I watched the World Cup soccer game with Australia against Japan.Japan had a much better game with ball control, possession and more chances with scoring.Australia defended very well and had few opportunities with shots at goal. In the last minute a rare opportunity came there way and they scored and won the game against a very good Japanese side. The defence system and perserverance won them the game. Discipled defence is a huge he factor in any game
They say defence wins premierships but Newcastle have 3rd best defense before last night and bulldogs were among the best in the comp the last couple years. You also need to be able to attack.
I think the game is going through another transition where attack is dominating similar to when the tigers won their premiership and that is why the competition is so haywire. Momentum is massive and refs can switch momentum with dumb call or 2 and these young players can score from anywhere with their daring play. I would love to see how many long range tries the past 2 years compared to previous years.
Attack is so good now due to the athleticism of players and young kids willing to play what's in front of them taking chances more than previous years of solid structure mimicking Melbourne.
We are seeing great attack and some of most exciting footy played by many teams in a long time, the eels included which is very difficult to defend. Scramble defence and commitment are just as important as the structure as the bulldogs have proven giving up plenty of missed tackles but still holding out teams from scoring.
I'll take Penriths 13-14 PPG for 4 years and 4 premierships.
Defense can keep you in games.If your attack isn't on you can still win games by holding others out.
Defense wins championships Attack dictates by how much.
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